By Mike Petraglia | Comments Off on Terry Rozier knows Celtics fans are ‘crazy about basketball,’ pledges willingness to compete for spot

Terry Rozier will have his hands full to make the Celtics crowded backcourt.

But listening to the 21-year-old product of Louisville, the guard is more than up for the challenge.

“I came in for two workouts so I had a pretty good feeling about it,” Rozier said during a conference call after being selected with Boston’s first of two first-round picks. “It worked out well. Danny Ainge is a great guy. Stevens is a real great guy. He’s really interactive with his guys. It was just amazing.”

With names like Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart already on the roster, Rozier will have to battle with those veterans and fellow rookies R.J. Hunter (Georgia State) and Marcus Thornton (William and Mary) to make an impression.

“I’m very excited,” Rozier said. “I know the tradition. Fans are crazy about basketball. And I’m just to excited to be a part of something like this. I’m just to ready to bring something to the table.

“It’s kind of the same thing I went through with a lot of guards when [Louisville] won the national championship [in 2013]. I just want to come in and bring the Celtics the same kind of defense, find my way to fit on the floor and compete. That’s my thing. I’m not worried about who’s there. I’m worried about how can I get on the floor and things like that.”

One of the big influences, naturally, has been his coach at Louisville and former Celtics coach Rick Pitino.

“He was a big help,” Rozier said. “He helped me relax. He knows the area [in Boston]. He talked to me every day. He was a guy in my corner, in my ear, just giving me the confidence.”

The Basketball Hall of Fame inducted seven former players and four coaches on Sunday, including former Celtics coach Rick Pitino.

Pitino enters the Hall of Fame more for his work as a college coach than as a professional coach.

He has won national championships with Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013), appeared in seven Final Fours — including an improbable 1987 run with Providence that earned him NABC and John Wooden National Coach of the Year honors — and amassed 662 victories in 27 seasons.

“Coaches don’t just get into the Hall of Fame. Players put them into the Hall of Fame,” Pitino said at his induction ceremony in Springfield.

For all the success he enjoyed at the collegiate level — including his start at Boston University from 1978 until 1983 — his coaching resume will always have a blip because of his forgettable experience with the Celtics.

Pitino took over as coach of the C’s in 1997. His stint lasted 3½ years, and his teams posted a 102-146 record during that time.

When Pitino was hired in 1997, not only did he take over as coach, he also became the team’s general manager, CEO and president. This complete control caused intense scrutiny for the former UMass guard when the wheels fell off.

‘You may wonder what I learned about the Boston Celtics. I am really, really grateful to them. I learned more than I gave,” Pitino said. “I didn’t give too much except leaving Jim O’Brien to master the helm. But I learned patience, humility, and a lot of people think it’s because of losing that you learn humility and it’s a major factor. I gained the humility because I had the greatest treat for four years.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Thursday morning and discussed Wednesday night’s loss to the Nets, the team field trip to view the movie “42,” and Louisville’s victory over Michigan in the NCAA championship game.

With their most recent loss, the C’s are nearly locked into the No. 7 seed for the playoffs, and will most likely be taking on the Knicks. Though his team’s fate is all but sealed, Rivers said he thinks the last few regular-season games are very important.

“It’s interesting because you’re still concerned about a couple of guys’ rests,” Rivers said. “It’s tough to accomplish things when you’re looking for that. But as far as our practices and our shootarounds, we’re working extremely hard right now on our rhythm, and I think we’re starting to get that.”

In the C’s 101-93 loss to Brooklyn, they did not attempt a single free throw in the first half and were outscored from the line 25-13 for the game.

“I don’t think the officials had anything to do with that,” Rivers said. “I thought there was one play where Jeff Green drove, I thought it was his only drive in the first half, and I thought he got fouled on a shooting foul and didn’t get [the call]. Other than that, it was us. I’ve always said it, that the aggressor gets the calls. It’s human nature and I thought the Nets were attacking and attacking and we didn’t.”

On one of the team’s recent off days, Rivers decided to take his team to a pre-screening of the movie “42.” The film, which is about the life of Jackie Robinson, is being released in North America on Friday.

“They enjoyed it,” Rivers said. “I thought it was a really neat movie. I thought a lot of guys, you could just see their interest in it, so it was a good thing.”

Added Rivers of his reasoning behind the experience: “I didn’t think we should practice, No. 1. But I thought we should be together. I think this is the time of year where you really want your team together as much as possible, just with each other. I didn’t know if it would be motivational, but I thought it would just be learning, it’s a learning experience.”